CandaceMC

Hi. I am planning my first trip to the CT in early August and was wondering
a) which of the five towns I should stay in and
b) what hotels in the towns are nice?
I think I would prefer Monterrosso for the close beach access and variety, but am open to suggestions. Also, I think air conditioning is necessary in Italy at that time, so please mention if it is available. Thanks!

motor_city_girl

What is your price range?

Many people, including myself, really like Hotel Villa Steno. It is in the old town in Monterosso.

CandaceMC

I am trying to keep it under $100 a night.

maitaitom

Think about Levanto, which is one town over from the CT. We have stayed twice at Villa Margherita, which is a short ten minute walk to the train station. It's easy acess to all 5 CT towns, and Levanto, itself, is really nice (and not as touristy (although August is big Italian vacation time.

The VM is nice, not plush, but should be close to your goal of 100 bucks a night. It includes a nice breakfast spread, too, and has a garden where you can bring some wine, read or write in a journal.

Levanto has some good, little restaurants, a castle and a beach. To us, it was the perfect spot to explore the CT. Have fun! Below is link.

http://www.villamargherita.net/

panecott

Do a search on this board. There are a zillion threads on Cinque Terre.

CandaceMC

Thanks for the suggestions. I have searched the board, but many of the threads are specific to a particular inquiry.

annabelle2

ditto on Levanto! I second everything maitaitom (Hi!) said above. We stayed at the Europa, which may be a little cheaper than the villa Margherita. A nice older hotel in a good central location with a big breakfast.

I was there in May and hardly any toursits were there...I am sure it will be nuttier in August; the Europa may require halfboard in that month since it seems to cater to Europeans, so that may affect the price.

Brian_in_Charlotte

Given the strength of the Euro, I doubt you'll find anything decent with A/C in the actual CT in peak season for under $100/night. It may be necessary to stay in a neighboring town like Levanto.

CandaceMC

Is there any kind of nighlife in Levanto? And how is the beach? Thanks again!

alison

i have researched this extensively for upcoming trip and have also settled on Levanto because we wanted a/c and the only a/c properites in the CT were very expensive. We are staying at the Garden Hotel in Levanto due to excellent trip advisor comments. Our terrace view room is $115 euro in June, but other rooms were 95 euro. You won't get any closer to $100 with a/c than that. There are a couple of B & B's people posted about on this forum, I believe La Conchiglie (sp) and La Dolce Vita and you can find them in previous posts. their websites looked fine, but i couldn't get any other info so went with a more known quantity.
good luck. (some people say if you have a sea breeze don't need a/c, but any room with a sea breeze will also likely be more than $100.

maitaitom

"Is there any kind of nighlife in Levanto?"

There's a great bar across from Stella d'Italia hotel (another option perhaps?) where we consumed too many martinis with a couple from Australia. There are a few good restaurants, too.

You could spend one evening in Levanto and another evening dining on the little bay at Vernazza (about an eight minute train ride). When I was there, I think the last train to Levanto (as opposed to the last train to Clarksville) from Vernazza is 10:59.

annabelle2

Was that the bar with all the old black & white photos of Levanto on the walls? Consumed too much of something there myself...good memory, though!

Martrese

I'll put in my two cents seconding the Hotel Villa Steno family of hotels in Monterosso. We stayed at their Hotel Pasquale www.hotelpasquale.com/en/index.html back in August and it was the highlight of our two week Tuscan vacation. It's right ON the beach and a nice stroll to so many restaurants and shops. Book in advance, though. And train on a stairmaster if you plan on hiking through all five towns (which you should). We can't wait to go back.

OneTravelingFool

Levanto is a great city to stay in, with easy access to the 5 villages by train or by boat. I recommend staying at L'Antico Borgo B&B. Cecelia and her mother take wonderful care of you. The cost for a double room including breakfast is roughly €60 to €90 per night. The B&B is up in the hills, so the view over Levanto is amazing. I also suggest eating at La Picea for the best pizza in the world. Have a great trip!
Below is web address to the B&B.

www.anticoborgo.net

CandaceMC

Thank you all for your responses. I have yet another question - is there any nightlife in Vernazza? It looks beautiful, but I would like an after-hours option. Thanks!

maitaitom

"Was that the bar with all the old black & white photos of Levanto on the walls?"

Annabelle, I don't know. We sat out at tables on the sidewalk and were served (overserved?) by our lovely server. We then meandered (aka straggled) into a nearby pizzeria for what, I think, was a great meal.

Candace, I remember there being a bar (shocking, I know) in Vernazza where you could also have internet access, but don't know how long it is open since we needed to take the 10:59 back to Levanto.

llamalady

We are booked into the VM in September
at €140/night - that seemed to be the
standard rate so no $100/nt. rooms there!

Annika_22

It's hard not to get an ocean breeze in the CT, they're all so teeny! I wouldn't worry overly about being "close" to the water, you can see the ocean from almost every where in each town. Staying in a room without an ocean view is a great way to save money. A night life might be too much to hope for, other than couples out strolling in the moonlight, enjoying themselves in the multitude of restaraunts and bars. You might want to go to Viareggio instead of the CT if you want excitement (nightclubs? dancing?) in a beach town, the Cinque Terre are still small villages no matter how many tourists come through each year. Monterosso is a good place to stay, for the reasons you mentioned, but I agree with everyone who advised you to give up on AC.
Have fun, I'm jealous!

Neopolitan

Frankly I don't get the idea of the posts where people say they are going to the CT and then talk about staying in a hotel in some nearby city -- not in the CT. Isn't this sort of like saying, "I'm visiting Manhattan, but my hotel is in Newark", or
"we're spending a week in San Francisco, our hotel is in San Jose"?
I think if someone is looking for fancy restaurants and lots of nightlife, they'd probably be best skipping the CT completely.

maitaitom

"Isn't this sort of like saying, 'I'm visiting Manhattan, but my hotel is in Newark',"

You could not be further from the truth. Levanto is a charming town that is a two minute train ride from CT. Nice restaurants, sights to see and a less touristy atmosphere thn the five CT towns . Have you been there? If you have, you would know why so many people choose it as a base to see the CT.

As for night life and great restaurants, I would agree that that is not why people visit the area.